Symfony4 - How to update a doctrine ArrayCollection ? - php

Question

I have a member of my entity is an arrayCollection. With a classic form builder is working fine, I can select multiple items and persist it. But when I try to update an object in controller I get the error : "Call to a member function setFaavailability() on array".
A resume of my entity :
/**
* #ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="App\Entity\FaAvailability",
inversedBy="faavailability")
* #ORM\JoinColumn(nullable=true)
* #ORM\Column(type="array")
*/
public $faavailability;
/**
* #return mixed
*/
public function getFaavailability()
{
return $this->faavailability;
}
/**
* #param mixed $faavailability
*/
public function setFaavailability($faavailability)
{
$this->faavailability = $faavailability;
}
In my controler :
$varFaavailability = $animal->faperson->getFaavailability();
foreach($varFaavailability as $availability){
if($availability->getName() == $animal->typepet->getName()){
$varFaavailability->removeElement($availability);
$faPerson = $em->getRepository(FaPerson::class) >findById($animal->faperson->getId());
$faPerson->setFaavailability($varFaavailability);
$em->persist($faPerson);
$em->flush();
}
}
Any ideas ?

Answer 1

If I remember well, when you set a field as an ArrayCollection it means that you have a oneToMany relationship between two entities.
From your code, I can tell you that you are trying to persist the data in the wrong entity. You usually add the owning_entity_id(1-to-N) in each item(1-to-N) and persist it. In your code, you are trying to set all the references at once, which is never going to happen. Delete the setFaavailability() or redefine the entities' relationships.
You should never try to mass-add foreign key relationships in one super duper setter function. Cycle through all the items and set the reference to the "parent" entity.

Answer 2

The problem is in this part: $faPerson = $em->getRepository(FaPerson::class)->findById($animal->faperson->getId());
The findBy* methods will try to find multiple entities and return them in a Collection.
If you're looking for a single person, you can use findOneById instead. Or (assuming id is configured as identifier in Doctrine) you can even use the find method: $faPerson = $em->getRepository(FaPerson::class)->find($animal->faperson->getId());

Answer 3

some general comments:
In Doctrine you never have to work with the IDs. Use the entity
objects! You only need to findById if you get the ID from a request parameter for example.
You should reconsider the naming of your variables to make it clear if it is a collection ($availabilities) or a single one ($availability).
Always use the getter/setter methods instead of the fields (typepet vs getTypepet()).
Call flush() one at the end to update all entities in one single transaction.
I've renamned the variables below as I understood them. However I am still not sure what $animal->faperson->getFaavailabilities() returns, since at the beginning you wanto to loop through the results and later set it to a single one via setFaavailability()?
//Should be a Doctrine ArrayCollection
$varFaavailabilities = $animal->faperson->getFaavailabilities();
foreach($varFaavailability as $availability){
if($availability->getName() == $animal->getTypepet()->getName()) {
//Why do you want to remove an element from the current loop?
$varFaavailability->removeElement($availability);
//No need to use Id
$faPerson = $animal->getFaperson();
//A single one?
$faPerson->setFaavailability($availability);
//More than one? addFaavailability should exist.
$faPerson->addFaavailability($availability);
$em->persist($faPerson);
}
}
$em->flush();